Making Baby Purees

I have been learning a lot about making baby food lately. I have a few great resources like the book Top 100 Baby Purees: 100 Quick and Easy Meals for a Healthy and Happy Baby by Annabel Karmel and a pretty new blog called Carrot are Orange. I thought I would share how to make a basic puree, because they are super simple to make and since I make our food each day, why not make my baby boy's food as well. We want to expose Seth to a lot of different tastes, and making your own baby food is a great way to do that (plus it is usually cheaper to make your own). Here's how to make them...

1. Choose your vegetable or fruit to puree.

2. Wash thoroughly, peel (if needed) and chop.

3. Don't throw out the peels! Add them to the compost pile.

4. Place vegetable or fruit into a steamer. Steam until fork tender.

5. Place in the food processor or food mill (use a food mill when there are skins such as with sweet peas or corn) to puree until desired consistency. Add water if needed to make it smoother.

6. Immediately place in ice trays to flash freeze. Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer.

7. When vegetable or fruit is frozen, remove from ice cube trays and place in a freezer bag. Label the bag with the name of the vegetable or fruit and the date.

Each ice cube holds one ounce of baby food. You can buy special ice cube trays made specifically for freezing baby food in two ounce amounts but they definitely cost more than $1.50 for a pack of two. Since these cubes are only one ounce, we can mix and match flavors once Seth is eating beyond just simple purees.